Botteghe Fiorentine, Guido Cozzi’s photography exhibition at the Istituto de’ Bardi in Florence

25/01/2025 - 31/05/2025

At the Istituto de' Bardi, a reality that for nearly two centuries has been dedicated to the enhancement of artistic craftsmanship, the beating heart of Florentine culture, photographer Guido Cozzi's Botteghe Fiorentine exhibition, promoted by the Institute at its historic headquarters in Palazzo Capponi on Via de' Michelozzi, takes visitors on a journey through images inside some of the city's artisan workshops: restorers, decorators, bronze workers, blacksmiths, carpenters, gilders, goldsmiths, bookbinders and many others. Crafts that once formed the economic and social fabric of the city's neighborhoods and that today, despite the difficulties, continue to keep an ancient knowledge alive. 20 images of as many workshops, described with a documentary edge by Florentine Guido Cozzi. The spaces are framed frontally, without the human presence, to focus on the material dimension of the objects. Shots that tell of a “suspended time,” offering visitors a cue to reflect not only on the current conditions of artisans, in a society increasingly oriented toward mass consumption, but also on the profound changes that the disappearance of these realities would bring to the city of Florence.   The images are complemented by a video, also created by Guido Cozzi, which is meant to be a hymn to the beauty of Florence, a city made by hand, thanks to the extraordinary collaboration between architects, engineers, artists and, of course, artisans.   Along the route will be exhibited ancient objects, dating from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, related to woodworking, tools belonging to the private collection, put together over several generations, of restorer Giuseppe Margheri (Mugello). During the exhibition period then, in addition to its usual activities, the Institute offers a series of thematic events:

• On Jan. 30 at 6 p.m., there is the lecture-show Shakespeare, theater as a “craft. A craft that is learned “in the workshop,” by director and actor Alessandro Calonaci, who illustrates the parallels between craftsmanship and theatrical creation.
• On Feb. 7 at 3:30 p.m., Professor Giovanni Cipriani gives the lecture Ottone Rosai, an artisan, son of artisans from the Florentine Oltrarno, delving into the figure of one of the protagonists of 20th-century Italian painting.
• On Feb. 22, Guido Cozzi leads the seminar Fotografare l'artigianato, an opportunity to learn how to enhance one's craftsmanship through photography.
• Finally, there are two appointments in March: on March 7 at 4 p.m. restorer Laura Grossi of Studio Santo Spirito speaks on The Poetry of Restoration in the Former Craftsman Quarter, and on March 21 at 5:30 p.m. journalist Stefano Tesi gives the lecture Raccontare l'artigianato tra cronaca e reportage.